Opera America is offering FREE multimedia online learning courses. The courses are four weeks long and cover many aspects of Vancouver Opera's upcoming Nixon in China: the history, music analysis, the people involved, etc.

The course begins Feb 1.

For those of you who are already signed up for VO's E-news, you'll automatically receive an email invitation to join the course. And if you aren't signed up, go here!

Participants receive an email each week letting them know when the newest content is online, then they can go and look at it at their leisure.

Latecomers can join after the Feb 1 start date and still have access to anything they’ve missed.

Here's the course curriculum:

Week 1:* Overview with introductions by composer John Adams and librettist Alice Goodman* A detailed look at what happens in Nixon in China* Overview of the six principal characters: Richard Nixon, Mao Tse-tung, Henry Kissinger, Pat Nixon, Chou En-lai and Chiang Ch'ing

Week 2:* In-depth analysis of Act 1* Introduction to Minimalism in music and Adam's approach to this style